Mar 27, 2018
In this episode, Aidan Simpson interviews Interaction Designers Alison Boncha and Fiona Yeung about impostor syndrome, the importance of mentorship, and how they developed the bold, inclusive new brand for Hexagon—a supportive community of women and non-binary UXers. The trio also discuss great career advice, hard lessons, and why everyone should have a “Yay Folder.”
A few highlights:
Alison on why you should leave your first job
“A friend in college told me, never stay your first job more than a year… or you're going to always be viewed as the junior person on the team.”
Fiona on the hardest lesson she’s still learning
“Even if you're the juiciest peach on earth, not everyone likes peaches. Remember that no matter how hard you try, there are still going be people you can't please. You have to like accept yourself for who you are.”
How Hexagon got its name
“We came up with three names that we thought had potential: Thrive UX, We UX, and Go Boldly. Turns out Go Boldly already exists. But We UX and Thrive UX felt too literal. I wanted something that was more symbolic, with a deeper metaphorical meaning. So I was brainstorming more and came across an article on beehives and why you’d want to structure your team culture like a bee hive. I was fascinated… beehives are also symbolic of great collaborative environments because you have organization and structure and leadership. And worker bees are all female. So we explored more bee imagery, and the shape of honeycombs is a Hexagon.“
Alison Boncha is an Interaction Designer on Google Express within the Shopping team. Allison works alongside engineers and product managers to take a product vision and deliver the best experience possible.
Fiona Yeung is a creator, artist, and Interaction Designer on Google’s Material Design team. She’s also the new head of Hexagon, leading an all-volunteer effort to foster supportive UX community.